GoS: Player Details

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Greens on Screen started its life in 1999 before many of the football sites that we are familiar with today, including Plymouth Argyle's own official site. Greens on Screen is dedicated to the sights, sounds and history of Plymouth Argyle Football club. It is owned and run by the Plymouth Argyle Heritage Archive, a charity dedicated to the promotion, preservation, and display of the heritage of our great football club.

The site owes its existence to Steve Dean. Without Steve's dedication and commitment for over 25 years, GoS would not exist and be the valued and loved resource for all football fans that it is today. The site is truly the envy of many clubs, and we owe a huge debt to Steve for his tireless work, and continued support behind the scenes.

Greens on Screen's first page was published in January 1999. Its early purpose was to bring Plymouth Argyle a little closer to those unable to see their team, and whilst it has changed a great deal over the years, its core themes - sights and sounds for Westcountry exiles - still stand. The site was very lucky to take on the content of Trevor Scallan's Semper Viridis in the summer of 2007, and in 2009 launched GoS-DB, a wealth of facts and figures from PAFC's history. A year later, we embarked on a complete history of Argyle, with much-valued contributions from chapter authors. Greens on Screen was taken over by its new custodians, The Argyle Archive, in 2024.

Greens on Screen is an amateur website and proud of it. It is run by a team of volunteers from the Plymouth Argyle Heritage Archive (Argyle Archive). Without the hard work and much-valued contributions of these volunteers, running the site would not be possible. Greens on Screen is self-taught and as a result, a little bit quirky.

Greens on Screen remains advertisement free, which means we are grateful for the generous support of our donors and the work of our volunteers to help keep it free of promotions. If you would like to support the work of Greens on Screen, please consider donating to the Plymouth Argyle Heritage Archive.

GoS's sole aim is to be a service to fellow supporters, and we look forward to continuing to celebrate Argyle'ss history for many years to come.

Plymouth Argyle Heritage Archive.
April 2024

Can you help? This page is the result of the best endeavours of all concerned. If you spot a mistake or know of facts to add, or have a better photo, please get in touch using 'Contact Us' (top, right).

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LEN BIRKS

Born: 06 October 1896

Came from: Sheffield United Went to: Bristol City

First game: 28 February 1931 Last game: 22 April 1933

Appearances: 50 (50/0) Goals: 0

Birks was born in Fenton, Stoke-on-Trent, in Staffordshire, just a few miles from Vale's stadium at the time, the Old Recreation Ground in Hanley. He was a full-back who started his youth career locally with Butt Lane Star in 1914, in the North Staffordshire leagues.

He joined Port Vale from Butt Lane, and signed professional in May 1920. He made his Second Division debut in 1920-21, in his only appearance of the season and remained a fringe player in 1921-22, adding just six more appearances. He then missed just one game of the 1922-23 campaign, and was an ever-present the following season, in 1923-24.

He initially retained his first team place in the highly successful 1924-25 season, but having then lost his place, Vale decided to cash in. He was sold to Sheffield United for 'a substantial sum' in October 1924. In total he had made 102 appearances for Vale between 1920 and 1924 before being sold.

Initially failing to settle at Bramall Lane, he missed out on a place in the 1925 FA Cup Final and never quite fully established himself as a regular first team player. He did, however, give good service to the Blades during his time, playing 211 games in all competitions across six years in South Yorkshire.

He left Bramall Lane in February 1931, at the age of 34, to become a Bob Jack signing. He was to spend three years at Home Park, competing for the left-back spot with Fred Titmuss, a former England international. Birks clocked up an exact half-century of appearances in green, across three seasons.

In 1933 he moved on to play 34 times for Bristol City before winding down in non-league football with the then Yeovil & Petters United, as they were called before becoming the present day Yeovil Town ahead of the 1946-47 season. Ahead of his move to Somerset he had made just a few games short of 400 appearances in his professional career.

After leaving Yeovil in 1935, he retired from playing fully and returned to Bristol City as a First Team Coach. After leaving his role at Ashton Gate some years later, he retired locally and passed away in Shirehampton, a north-west suburb of Bristol, near Avonmouth, in March 1975, at the age of 78 years old.

YOUR CONTRIBUTION

If you can add to this profile, perhaps with special memories, a favourite story or the results of your original research, please contribute here.

APPEARANCE DETAILS [reselect competitions]

The details below reflect appearances in all first-team competitions.

I'm very grateful to many who have helped write GoS-DB's player pen-pictures, and to Dave Rowntree, the PAFC Media Team and Colin Parsons for their help with photos. Thanks also to staff at the National Football Museum, the Scottish Football Museum and ScotlandsPeople for their valuable assistance.

The following publications have been particularly valuable in the research of pen-pictures: Plymouth Argyle, A Complete Record 1903-1989 (Brian Knight, ISBN 0-907969-40-2); Plymouth Argyle, 101 Golden Greats (Andy Riddle, ISBN 1-874287-47-3); Football League Players' Records 1888-1939 (Michael Joyce, ISBN 1-899468-67-6); Football League Players' Records 1946-1988 (Barry Hugman, ISBN 1-85443-020-3) and Plymouth Argyle Football Club Handbooks.

Greens on Screen is run as a service to fellow supporters, in all good faith, without commercial or private gain. We have no wish to abuse copyright regulations and apologise unreservedly if this occurs. If you own any of the material on this site, and object to its inclusion, please get in touch using the 'Contact Us' button at the top of the page.